Napowrimo 21/30: A Matter of Necessity

A Matter of Necessity “You’re not supposed to leave the house without your cell.” You might have to think for yourself with no one tracking your whereabouts ready at a moments notice to receive your call. What would you do if aliens abducted you, unable to call 911? Without an hourly selfie, your followers might unfriend you, not to mention leaving them waiting on your indispensable opinion of whatever is trending. Plus, you’d be forced to participate IRL without the virtual world at your fingertips. Imagine! *** Prompt via napowrimo.net: Write a poem that incorporates overheard speech. Continue reading Napowrimo 21/30: A Matter of Necessity

Napowrimo 20/30: Counting Time

Counting Time There aren’t enough hours in a day to rescue a moth trapped indoors to count the magnolias on the tree to watch the cat meander down the fence line to make a cake from scratch to polish my silver baby spoon to fill the pots and plant the seeds to mend the tattered quilt to call a friend to soak in bath salts to find the Big Dipper to lie down with a quiet mind. *** Continue reading Napowrimo 20/30: Counting Time

NaPoWriMo 17/30: Eve of a Cold Moon

Eve of a Cold Moon So briefly, so briefly – a few days of awareness, then you were gone. Still, there’s a space for you that no other ever filled, the abandoned home of a whisper-life not ready for a world such as this. *** Prompt via NaPoWriMo.net: Write a nocturne. In music, a nocturne is a composition meant to be played at night, usually for piano, and with a tender and melancholy sort of sound. Your nocturne should aim to translate this sensibility into poetic form. Continue reading NaPoWriMo 17/30: Eve of a Cold Moon

Writing With Poet Fida Islaih

On Wednesdays at 6:00 pm Poet Fida Islaih facilitates a chat for poets called #PoetteerChat on Twitter. I’ve been participating for a couple of months and have enjoyed chatting and getting to know other poets. Two weeks ago Fida had poet Nicole Gilotta, author of Eat This Poem, as a guest on the chat. (Transcript here.) I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about her book and the inspiration for writing it, so much so that I invited the other participants to join me in writing a collaborative poem about food. I’d always wanted to do a collaborative poem and the subject piqued … Continue reading Writing With Poet Fida Islaih

Tiny Miracle

Tiny Miracle You named her Sarah. She lived in the window of my teen-aged bedroom in a macrame hanger I made myself. She was so exotic, so otherworldly, so stunning in the Mississippi sunlight. In my twenties, she made the trip to New Orleans in the back of my orange Datsun, carefully cushioned for minimum damage, where she lived for many more years on the back patio until the many deluges and unrelenting humidity finally did her in. That, and my benign neglect. I’ve missed her all these years but I couldn’t buy another Sarah. It wouldn’t be the same. … Continue reading Tiny Miracle

Brain Dump

I began working on a CNF piece a few months ago based on an interaction I had with a woman in the jury lounge when I was called up for Federal jury duty. The first three paragraphs flowed out easily. The next couple came weeks later. Now I can’t stand the thought of going back to work on it at all. There are memories of the aftermath of Katrina interspersed and I just don’t want to think about it. It’s Spring, new beginnings, a time of optimism. The thought of revisiting that time is just abhorrent. Hopefully, this is just … Continue reading Brain Dump

Women Online: Great Reads You Shouldn’t Miss

I LOVE this tweet by Kelli Agodon, writer and co-founder of Two Sylvias Press who has a great twitter feed. Just had to share. Anyone who writes poetry has had a version of this wonderment in their head at one time or another. But, thing is, if you’re born to write poetry your really don’t have a choice. I wrote when I was very young then didn’t for years and years, only coming back to it in my mid-30’s but it was always in my head. Fragments, bits and pieces, phrases….it was always in there because it’s just how I … Continue reading Women Online: Great Reads You Shouldn’t Miss

Recent Publications

My poem, “Another Poem About the Moon”, was just published in the new issue of Literary Orphans. Huge thanks to Mike Joyce, Scott Walden, and Peter Marra for allowing my work to grace their pages for the third time. I also want to thank Kaia Pieters, featured artist, for the beautiful photography that accompanies my piece and the others in this issue. Beautiful work, indeed. Earlier this month my poem, “Bring Down the Babies”, was published in the beautiful Mockingheart Review. This journal specializes in publishing poetry and is curated by the wonderful Louisiana poet Clare Martin. If poetry is … Continue reading Recent Publications